I have been enjoying an Osho discourse series that somehow escaped my radar, “Philosophia Ultima – talks on the Mandukya Upanishad” given towards the end of Pune One. There are sixteen discourses in total. This particular gem is from #9.
“Shakespeare says: The question is to be or not to be. If you ask the Mandukya Upanishad, it will say — and I agree with the Mandukya Upanishad — the question is not: To be or not to be? The question is: How not to be so that you can be? The way to be is not to be. Disappear as you are so you can appear AS YOU REALLY ARE. Let the mask fall so that the original face is discovered, let the mind go so that there is no interference from the mind… and you can be in silent blissfulness, one with existence. Then you will find yourself in the flowers and their fragrance and you will find yourself in the birds and their songs, and you will find yourself in the sun and in the moon and in the clouds, in the people, in the animals… you will find yourself spread everywhere. You will be as vast as the universe itself. All that you have to lose is this small ego. It is not much that you are asked to lose. It is rubbish! It is false! It is only an idea. If you are able to drop it, suddenly you explode into the whole, and then the whole splendor of existence is yours. All the songs are yours, all the blessings are yours, all the benedictions are yours. That state of ecstasy is the fourth state, TURIYA. It has to be known! It has to be lived! That is the only way to attain to ultimate life. Unless it is found, life remains misery; life remains a hell. To find it is to enter into the kingdom of God.”